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Editor's Note: Dick Weinman's life in an ALF parallel's his wife's life in an Alzheimer's Facility.  His feelings about his wife will appear for several weeks in his poems and essays.

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Image Ginny  A Living Death resized
Photo by Don Ferguson, Shadowsmith Photographics


I gaze into your picture,

Trying to see through your eyes,

They smile.

But . . .

You hide it well, the black corruption of your brain,

The darkness of your mind’s night,

The in and out shadows of what once was and now is:

That web of sticky strands – thick fiber

That blocks the flow of memory needed to take your mind out of the night,

And lead it into the light of recognition and remembrance.

I look deeply, my eyes penetrate your face, and I see

Some striving to meet my gaze, a push to reach out, some slight surge of memory,

Awareness of the bond between us  . . .

. . . the delicate meanderings along the confusing web,

Bringing a glimpse of light into your mind’s night.

 

 

 

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